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DeClemente : Gordon : Hilton : Kleker : McCready : Neese : O'Malley : Purbrick : Sclavi You Can Have It All offers postcards produced by each artist along with works in various media. The postcards perfectly complement the artists' shared orientation towards art that addresses forms of communication, patterns of behavior and gift giving. The card conceptually carries with it key themes of the new projects created for this artist-led exhibition, namely disseminating text-based messages and drawing from memories of generosity. Even though the exhibition is predicated on social engagement, its particular effect often hinges on the artists distance from participants, from the individuals or past moments referenced in the work. They question the side effects of giving or receiving something personal, unasked for and likely to strangers, as much as the instant and slow-time release gratification in having it all. I pick
up postcards to send to others, to keep for myself. I pick up art
postcards because they are intended for visitors like me, and are
often the only tangible thing I can ever afford to leave with from
a gallery. Like Megan McCready's bowl of M&Ms, if they're sitting
there I habitually stuff them in my purse, regardless of my interest
in the artist or merit of the card. My files threaten to explode
with them, the good ones lost to the sheer volume of printed ephemera.
I store half-finished ones I’ve never sent and ones I've specifically
chosen with someone in mind, but am waiting for the appropriate
moment when either they or I go away. I save everything sent to
me. Some of the authors of these cards have diminished relevance
in my life such as high school classmates and yet, like Ashley Neese's
love mix to her class of ‘98, the cards immediately cause
an inexplicable longing. Making mixes and sending postcards aim
to remind others of us as much as indirectly express gratitude to
them. Like Kathryn Sclavi's diaries that point to both selfish and
altruistic intentions of the gift, postcards often become diaristic
in content, risking being egocentric, and even pretentious in the
self-reflexive choice of imagery. Are we sharing a bit of our holiday
or rather boasting of our vacation jaunts and museum-going? Postcards
blow kisses. These souvenirs give only the gist of a place, of a
person, of a practice. I write postcards hoping for reciprocity,
knowing full well the majority of recipients are not card writers
and that I provide no return address. The concise, uplifting messages
in Susan O'Malley and Hope Hilton's text-based projects are sent
out with the faith that they will be read by strangers. The artists’
love for individuals in their lives underlies the works by Lori
Gordon, Ashley Neese and Virginia Kleker. Filling in the mailing
address of his parents in England for his postcard, Daniel Purbrick
intends to have us all announce his first show to them. I will save
one and send another out with the rest of my postcards. As Virginia
Kleker wishes in I Want More Than You Can Give, I just want all
of them to smile. Tanya
Zimbardo is the Curatorial Associate of Media Arts at the San Francisco
Museum of Modern Art. She earned her masters degree in Curatorial
Practice at the California College of the Arts, where she was a
former PLAySPACE committee member. Zimbardo is an independent curator
and freelance writer. |
